PBS KIDS Peg + Cat Super Peg Week

Peg + Cat is my favorite PBS KIDS program. It's the Downton Abbey of kids programming. The animation is so cool, as are the songs, and the way they make math seem not only fun but useful! I could go off on a whole thing about them using a girl on this show too, but I think they know how happy that makes everyone who is interested in leveling the playing field for girls in math and science.

PBS' “Super PEG Week” begins May 5th airing 4 new episodes of Peg and Cat. In “Super PEG Week,” Peg and Cat go on all-new adventures and journey to a variety of places, including the town of Mathtropolis, where “Super Peg” and “Cat Guy” (comic book superhero versions of the dynamic duo) must use math and creative thinking to defeat the “Arch Villain” and save the day. The action-packed episodes include challenges that highlight foundational math concepts such as shapes, lines, ordinal numbers and spatial relationships.

“PEG + CAT Super PEG Week” – Episode Air Dates and Descriptions

“The Arch Villain Problem/The Straight and Narrow Problem” (#120) – Premieres May 7, 2014
 

“The Arch Villain Problem" When the Arch Villain wreaks havoc on the city of Mathtropolis by turning everything into arches, Super Peg and Cat Guy come to the rescue. 

“The Straight and Narrow Problem”: Super Peg and Cat Guy trail the Arch Villain, who has given up his archways and gone on a rampage with straight and narrow shapes instead.

Included Math Concepts: Understanding straight, narrow and curved line shapes; counting sides to determine shapes; counting by tens to 100.

“The Play Date Problem/The Blabberwocky Problem” (#122) – Premieres May 6, 2014

“The Play Date Problem”: Peg and Cat use the power of music and patterns to help their friends Beethoven and the Three Bears play together – and make incredible music together.

“The Blabberwocky Problem”: Peg and Cat are back as the Knights of the Round Table to reclaim their friends’ missing shapes – and their own Round Table– from the mysterious 100-headed creature, The Blabberwocky.

Included Math Concepts: Identifying patterns audibly; identifying shapes.

“The Perfect Ten Problem/The Long Line Problem” (#117) – Premieres May 7, 2014

“The Perfect Ten Problem”: Peg and Cat are judging a singing competition in which all performers must get a rating of exactly ten stars.

“The Long Line Problem”: While waiting in a long line, Peg and Cat try to help Richard realize his dream of being first in line for the first time.

Included Math Concepts: Ordinal numbers, how to use a number line; counting to 20; positional relationships.

“The Clown Problem/The Ninja Problem” (#121) – Premieres May 8, 2014

“The Clown Problem”: Peg and Cat help Mac achieve his dream of being a clown in the circus by teaching him how funny it can be when things are exactly the wrong size.

“The Ninja Problem”: Peg and Cat help their young Ninja-wannabe friend Aki find the fifteen missing cherry blossom trees by using Ninja skills and math skills.

Included Math Concepts: Sizes and shapes; numbers and counting.

Bonham's Entertainment Memorablia Auction

Ted Allen Signed Lithograph of Groucho Marx

Bonham's, International Auctions and Appraisers, is holding an auction of Entertainment Memorabilia this Sunday May 4th- Monday May 5th in Los Angeles. The auction includes items from 1910's through present day and spans Film, TV, Music and animation.

  

  Design Sketch Bacall Designing Women

Incredible Shrinking Man
Poster

It's pretty exciting to see a final script from Nothing Sacred, not to mention actually owning it and being able to flip through it!

Nothing Sacred Final Shooting Script

The auction also includes a vast amount of animation

Disney Animation from Camping out

You can also find a wide array of music memorabilia everything from Liberace to the Police is represented

Liberace costume

Arguably my favorite items at this auction are the huge collection of Norma Shearer photographs. The one below was from a series to convince the studio she would be right for The Divorcee. The collection includes everything from random publicity shots to beautifully executed Hurell portraits. There are some from Idiots Delight I would love to have.

George Hurell photograph of Norma Shearer

To see all the amazing lots up for auction visit The Bonham Entertainment Memorablilia site.

Below you will find my wish list. On the off chance any of you were wondering what to get me for Mother's Day or Memorial Day, or 4th of July, or hey my birthday is in September. No pressure...

Audrey Hepburn Givenchy Hat from a Vogue Shoot

The Big Lebowski Bowling Set Pieces

More Norma Shearer Portraits

Wabash Avenue Lobby Card

Monky Business Lobby Card

Silk Stocking Poster Kapralik cutout illustrations

King Creole Poster

Sunset Blvd Poster

Born To Be Bad Poster

Mildred Pierce Poster

The Killers Poster

English Silent Film The Strong Man's Burden Poster

Mad Men Season 7 Epi 3 Field Trip

Field Trip was the 3rd episode of season 7 of Mad Men, it could have been called rejection tour. Every single character is dealing with being told no. With varying degrees of style and confidence.

First we see Peggy is upset about not getting nominated for a Cleo, while Ginsberg and Stan are. It turns out that Lou hadn't even submitted her St. Johns/Rosemary Baby ad. Lou says it was Cutler that didn't want to submit it, but really it was just Lou not wanting to submit any work that predated him at the agency. Beside the point, that I think Lou just wants to push Peggy down and build up the guys. Another sexist hurdle for Peggy to deal with.

Megan is getting the most direct rejection in Hollywood. She's handling it so badly that her agent is calling Don to help her get it under control. Which was probably the wrong move. Since Don is the one who is making her the most insecure. Still he runs out to LA to try and build her up. He ends up telling her about his leave from the agency. It may be the last straw for Megan, that he's chosen to stay in New York, when he could have been in LA with her.

 We find Betty having lunch with her old buddy Francine who is telling her all about her exciting life as a travel agent, now that the kids are getting older. Betty tries to maintain her happy homemaker persona but you can see the wheels spinning. As soon as she gets home she throws herself into her mothering role by volunteering to go on Bobby's field trip. It seems like the trip is going well, smoking on the school bus, drinking cows milk from a bucket, then Bobby accidentally trades Betty's sandwich for some gum drops and Betty takes it as the ultimate insult. With the amount of guilt she lays on him, that kid will never be able to eat another sandwich. Later Betty tells Henry that the kids don't love her??? Because a kid obliviously gave your sandwich away??? 

Finally,  Don pulls the trigger with Dave Wooster and gets an offer from his firm to jump ship. Don takes the offer directly to Roger. After a bit of "How dare you not stand up for me" and "You were begging for it" ending with Roger admitting he misses Don. Roger says come back. Sadly Roger neglects to tell any of the other partners about this. Don ends up spending the whole day waiting around in the office, how humiliating. Even though none of the other partners seem to want him back when Roger points out that they will have to buy him out and that they will now be competing against Don for accounts, they come around. But they make him sign a contract that says if he misbehaves they will absorb his shares and he will have to report to Lou. I was shocked Don didn't haggle this more but he just said OK. You get the feeling though he knows he can win them all over again. Once he's making his amazing ads.

I think it will be Lou's raison d'etre to keep Don down, which should move Peggy out of his sights, at least. I don't think it will take Don long to send Lou packing with his tiki bar. Still it should be interesting to watch them jockey for position.

This and That:

Every time they're in LA and you see the sky line through a window they fill it with orange smog.

The woman (Emily Arnett) who approaches Don at the dinner with Wooster. Perhaps Wooster is just lying about not getting her or maybe it was just an opportunity to show us how much Don has changed. He is saying no to all the girls. 

Henry Might be Attorney General

Stan so wants Peggy. Putting out his hand to help her up when they are talking about the Cleo.

The agency needs to balance it's business side and art side they always seem heavy one way or another. Harry can't get the computer he needs. Cutler thinks having Lou, who is only "adequate" by his own description, is fine? Ted is totally off his game in California and Peggy is being shut down by Lou.

Megan stalking a director having lunch with Rod Serling at the Brentwood Country Mart.

The Carousel in Central park makes Ken Cosgrove think of Don

The final song Jimi Hendrix If 6 Was 9.

Stay tuned for tonight's Mad Men Podcast

Mad Men Season 7 epi 2 A Day's Work Recap

Last night's Mad Men (season 7 episode 2) A Day's Work was, mostly, another experience of people not getting what they want or having it whipped away from their grasp at the last moment. Pete manages to sign up the Southern California Chevy dealers only to have the New York office decide that it all needs to be run by the bigger client that is Chevy itself, which means Bob Benson. I have to say Pete's girlfriend, Bonnie Whiteside, is another great woman for him. Her pep talk about how their fortunes are not in their hands and the fun is trying to get it away from those who are in charge is brilliant and totally talks him down from his tantrum.

The episode starts with Don's kind of pathetic day of sleeping in till noon even though his alarm goes off at 7:30 still. Once he finally does get up it's a day of ritz crackers and Little Rascals episodes. The further degradation of his once perfect white carpet apartment, that last week had broken sliding doors, now continues with the introduction of a cockroach. We get it guys his life is falling apart. He does finally get up and get dressed and we think he might have somewhere to be but turns out he's just making himself look good for his secretary Dawns visit, which informs us that indeed Don is keeping Megan in the dark about his "leave" from the firm.

The next day is Valentines day at the office. We find Ginsberg, Stan and Peggy in the elevator. Peggy obviously doesn't realize it's Valentines day and Ginsberg is happy to turn the knife in her when they inform her. Stan seems to want to be light about it, making a comment about her cat not being able to afford to send her flowers. I think Stan has a little (possibly very little) torch for Peggy. He smiles at her warmly and tries to joke around with her, until she comes back with lines like" Is this a joke because I don't want to have to fire you later." Which freezes him up and returns him to calling her boss.

I love the camaraderie between Dawn and Shirley. That they call each other by the others name is hysterical. I presume everyone in the office mixes them up frequently enough that they have gotten use to answering to either name. It's a great way to show all of that without having to film a frame of it. Just put them in a room together and have Dawn say "Hi Dawn" to Shirley and vice versa and all of the rest is there.

Lou showed what an insecure jerk he was this episode. I think he is pretty threatened by Don, or just incredibly self centered that his secretary might have stronger ties to Don then him, that he has her removed. Either way I think everyone dislikes him and no one will be sad to see him go when, I predict, Don makes his triumphant return.

On an up note Joan finally is released from her duties as office manager and joins the partners up stairs in a new office. Cutler, of all people, notices Joan juggling her duties trying to reassign secretaries for all manner of petty reasons and realizes she should be focusing on her accounts. This ends up solving several issues. Dawn, who Lou doesn't want on his desk, becomes office manager. Shirley who has had a misunderstanding with Peggy moves to Lou and all is right with the world. Of course this leave room for some new secretaries to be hired, I think Peggy is still without one???

Finally, the whole Don and Sally relationship took a turn this week. Sally's unannounced stop by the office reveals to her that her father has been excused from his duties there, which allows her to feel sorry for him and let go of some of the anger she is justified in having. Sally is clearly not happy with either of her parents. The line about being willing to stay in school till 1975 if it would put Betty in the ground, left no doubt about that.  Sally is still struggling with her own identity. Later while stopping at the coffee shop with Don, I loved when she says she only went to her roommate's mother funeral to go shopping, and when Don says he doesn't think that's true she says "I'm so many people" Don's face is so still with just the slightest wince in the eyes. I think that one hit close to home for him. In the end when her father tells her that he has blown it and he is trying to make it up to his partners and that he doesn't even know how to go about it, she softens to him, even telling him "I love you" when he drops her off at school.

For more on last nights episode I'll be recording the Mad Men Podcast on Wednesday night. Check back here for the link and then Youtube embed.



Last, but not least, here is the video of the Turtles song Elenore (who spells it like that?) that is playing in the car while Don is driving Sally back to school. This song was meant to be a spoof of poppy songs but ended up so good it made it to number 6 on the top 100 charts. Make of that what you will.

AMC #MadMen Time Zones Season 7 epi 1

AMC's Mad Men final season premiered last night. Jeremiah and I had a great time talking about it on tonight's edition of the Mad Men Podcast. Don't forget to enter to win the Joan Barbie doll. Details on how to enter are in the podcast.

I'm also including this promo for Bracken's World, the show Megan will screen test for.



For all my post on Mad Men